A great human resources team is always a cause for celebration, but fortunately, a special day exists to let HR professionals know how much you care.

This day is celebrated on May 20th of each year, and is one of a few days dedicated to recognizing and celebrating the work of HR staff in particular. 

The goal is to acknowledge and reward the hard work and commitment that your HR team puts forth in managing your organization’s people. It’s not only a great way to foster employee engagement and create a positive work environment, but also to educate people on the complex work of HR professionals, and to inspire others to explore the career path. So just what are some of the ways to highlight your HR team and build a culture that appreciates them? Keep reading to find out!

Great ways to celebrate International Human Resource Day in 2024

1. Host an HR appreciation event

One of the simplest and most straightforward ways to celebrate your hard-working HR professionals is to plan a party. Organize a party with your HR team and others from your company where you can have fun, socialize, and possibly hand out awards. The key is that you don’t rely on your HR team to organize, as you might with other company events. Help them to let their hair down by planning and executing the event without their involvement. Let them show up and be the guest of honor. Doing so also sets a great example for others in your organization, and it’s a great way to show everyone how much you value HR and their work. For more general employee appreciation ideas, make sure to follow our blog. 

2. Complete an HR audit

Think of International HR Day as an excuse to improve the work environment of your HR team. Take the time leading up to the day to complete an audit, where you review HR processes and identify areas for improvement. Simply finding opportunities won’t help your HR team - that’s likely to just lead to more work. Instead, form a committee or cross-departmental group that can help to identify things that can close the gaps.

For example, are there technologies that can reduce a cumbersome paperwork cycle? Or is there a process that seems to slow things down for them, perhaps scheduling interviews during the recruiting process? Look for not only things that can be improved, but ways your entire organization can help them to improve. Then, hold a meeting where you share your findings and make a commitment to your HR team on how you will help them to streamline going forward. Remember, the key here is not to just dump more tasks on the HR team. Come up with suggestions that you or other team members can help with, and tell them in detail how you’ll do that. 

3. Highlight professional development opportunities

HR staff are used to sharing training and learning opportunities with the rest of the company, but they don’t often get the time to invest in such things themselves. Take the time to do some research and come up with some professional development opportunities that they might be interested in. Which skills could they brush up on, and which areas do they need to learn to stay up to date in the industry? Show them that you value their growth and career path by highlighting options that will help them not only in your business, but in their own development for now or the future. If you need to, ask an intern or a small committee to do the research and prepare a presentation for your HR team. Then, present them the options on International HR Day and share your excitement for them to really take the time to attend these conferences, training, etc. 

4. Create a recognition program

Ideally, your recognition program would run throughout the year. However, International HR Day is a great time to reveal a new program and explain how it works to your entire company. Come up with a few different ways to recognize your HR staff. It could be that you reward a big project or initiative, or maybe managers nominate certain staff for extra recognition. You might also keep a consistent bulletin board populated, where people can post notes on employee accomplishments they have seen (for more bulletin board ideas, check out our blog). Whatever you decide is best, come up with a few ways that you’ll recognize HR employees every year, and utilize HR Day as a time to share and promote these new programs. 

5. Host a company-wide event

Any time you can bring your employees together, it's a good thing. You can use International HR Day as an event in itself, or you can incorporate some HR Day celebrations into a larger event, like a company-wide retreat. Make sure to engage employees by hosting various activities such as trivia competitions or icebreaker games. We’ll dig more into this further on, but if you need some help you can always reach out to Surf Office. Many business leaders undervalue the importance of face-to-face time, especially for hybrid or remote teams, and it does take time to organize an effective retreat. We can support you in putting together a meaningful event that will truly engage employees. 

6. Volunteer together

Few things feel as good as helping others, and organizing volunteer opportunities for your staff to do so can help your company to live its values. Employees feel great when their employer puts their money where their mouth is, showing that they care about the communities they operate within, and proving it with action. To make these activities relevant to International HR Day, you can either focus on causes that align with HR work, or you can ask your HR team for their opinion on what is most meaningful.

For example, maybe you want to focus on career mentoring or helping a woman’s shelter organize work clothes to be used for job interviews. Or, you can have your HR group complete a survey where they share organizations they might be familiar with that can use assistance. Then reach out to those nonprofits and schedule a day for your entire company to partake in a community-building event. Make sure to share with your employees what you’ll be doing and how it makes a real impact in the community. 

7. Demonstrate HR accomplishments

Is the rest of your organization familiar with just how much your HR team does on a daily basis? Or, is there a big initiative that’s been completed in the background? Make sure your entire company knows about these achievements as well as any other important things your HR team has accomplished. On International HR Day, put together a presentation to share with all employees, or create a newsletter that can be shared so that everyone can learn more about your amazing HR team. 

8. Create an HR-focused communication

It’s important for everyone in the company to understand the value that other departments offer. A lot of what HR does happens in the background, so people may not know everything that they really contribute to the organization. To celebrate International HR Day, come up with a communication that shines a spotlight on how much impact the HR team has. You can highlight individual employees or recent projects. It’s up to you if you want to make this a regular communication, such as a monthly newsletter, or if it's best as a one-time effort during the special day. You can also work with your HR team to come up with their own newsletter that is shared more broadly. Create a template and have them fill it out with information that might be interesting to the organization each month. 

9. Ask everyone to reflect on personal achievements

One of the things that HR normally does is to highlight other people’s achievements. For this effort, have your HR team share their own accomplishments with management. They can be focused on things like hiring, benefits, networking, personal development - basically anything that they feel proud of over the past year. Then compile these notes into a presentation or email communication that you’ll share with the whole company. Bonus points if you add a message from your CEO or leadership team highlighting their own pride at the listed accomplishments. 

10. Connect HR teams with other HR pros

Most people are social creatures to some degree. Making more connections is not only healthy but can also be really helpful for furthering personal and career goals. Offering them the chance to meet with other HR people and gain insights and share best practices can be very valuable and they’re sure to appreciate the opportunity. Look for HR communities online where people can connect with others from throughout the country or even the world. LinkedIn is a great place to start, but you might also find local associations or networking groups. If there are events in your area, encourage HR professionals to seek them out and support them in attending. This will be valuable for networking as well, which is a win-win for both your employees and your company. 

11. Share a wellness program with a special focus on HR

Self-care is something HR professionals should encourage others to do, but may not make time for themselves. Help your HR team to be more intentional about making time for themselves by coming up with some resources to help with wellbeing. Whether that’s inviting a speaker to discuss healthy boundaries, or offering gym memberships or spa gift certificates, come up with a little something extra for your HR team that is focused on their health and wellness. This is a great way to help them to help themselves. 

12. Develop sustainability programs in HR’s honor

Eco-friendliness is becoming increasingly important in our world, with many companies developing sustainability initiatives. No doubt your HR team is equally passionate about such things, so why not create a program that helps with some things they care about. You can focus on anything from recycling to water conservation, but start by asking your HR team what they’d like to see. From there you can develop a cross-departmental team that has some HR professionals and some others to make some traction in these areas. Make the announcement on International HR Day for added impact. 

13. Share your latest diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts

If you want to encourage different perspectives, then it’s a good idea to celebrate diversity. It’s smart to do this all year long, until it’s truly part of the fabric of your company, but International HR Day is a great time to highlight any new programs or initiatives, as well as to renew the commitment you make to your staff to be inclusive. Highlight the contributions of staff from various backgrounds, cultures, and experiences. Consider other projects that will help to establish an inclusive and supportive environment, and share them on International HR Day.

14. Offer peer recognition

HR is used to recognizing other employees with raises and promotions. How often do they receive such recognition themselves? Put together a peer recognition program where members of the HR team can share the achievements of their colleagues. Keep nomination forms handy so that they can fill them out when the moment strikes them. At your next company meeting or event, share some of the nominations and their reasoning. You can read some of the slips aloud so that HR professionals get the recognition they deserve, not just from business leadership but from their coworkers. 

Incorporate International HR Day into team-building retreats

One of the best ways to celebrate your HR team is to invest in their growth - both within and outside your company. Consider putting together a mini team-retreat for the HR team, where they can get together and learn, share best practices, and discuss human resource-focused topics. This event would be the perfect time to offer HR-specific training, speakers, or volunteer opportunities. Make sure to complete the day with a social event such as a happy hour or outdoor team-building games.

We can help put together a compelling team retreat that your HR employees will be excited about.